McDuffie Center for Strings to Host Labor Day Festival September 1-4
AN INTENSIVE HANDS-ON THREE-DAY WORKSHOP OPEN TO RISING HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS; APPLICATION DEADLINE JULY 15. APPLY HERE
MASTER CLASSES FEATURE ROBERT MCDUFFIE, DAVID KIM, LAWRENCE DUTTON AND SIHAO HE
July 6, 2023—The Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia is excited to host their annual Labor Day Festival on September 1-4. Open to a total of eight rising high school seniors (four violinists, two violists and two cellists), the Labor Day Festival is an intensive, hands-on three-day workshop with Center for Strings faculty.
The workshop program is free for accepted participants to attend, who only need to pay for their travel to and from Mercer University. All other expenses during the workshop are covered. The application deadline is July 15, apply HERE.
Participants take part in master classes, coachings and rehearsals as they prepare for the festival’s closing concert, when they will perform string quartets as well as play with the Center String Ensemble. This year’s festival will feature master classes with Center for Strings founder Robert McDuffie, Emerson Quartet violist Lawrence Dutton, Philadelphia Orchestra Concertmaster David Kim, and internationally acclaimed cellist and Center alumnus Sihao He, plus will offer a preview of the David Kim Orchestral Institute (DKOI), which will become part of the curriculum for violinists at the McDuffie Center for Strings this upcoming school year.
“The Labor Day Festival is a wonderful peek into the inner workings of the McDuffie Center for these talented high school seniors,” notes Center for Strings Director Amy Schwartz Moretti. “The interaction between our faculty and students with the invited individuals creates this unique experience, culminating in a very festive concert for the community. Now to be adding the orchestral element of the DKOI to the weekend and our Center puts it over the top! How fortunate we are to offer this opportunity!”
David Kim adds, “I am so very excited for the 2023 McDuffie Center for Strings Labor Day Festival, made even more compelling this year with the addition of the David Kim Orchestral Institute (DKOI) preview session.”
After just 10 years of graduates matriculating into the professional ranks of classical music, McDuffie Center students have gone on to join top symphony orchestras around the world, including first violin with the Berlin Philharmonic, principal bass with the Helsingborgs Symfoniorkester in Sweden, and principal violin with the San Francisco Symphony, as well as positions with the St. Louis and Phoenix orchestras. A number of alumni are performing exciting new music with up-and-coming chamber groups (Collectif9, Ivala Quartet, Invoke), while others have used their entrepreneurial training to create their own music nonprofits (Hawaii Chamber Music Festival, Nashville Chamber Music Society).